Status Report on European Telework TELEWORK 98 Telework 98 European Telework AC981201 Telework98.doc, August 1998 2 Telework 98 European Telework Foreword The year 1998 marks a turning point in the development of new working practices in Europe. Although definitions are very difficult in this rapidly changing field, current best estimates indicate that about 4 million Europeans1, about 2½% of the workforce, are teleworking in one form or other. This is twice as many as 2 years ago. In addition, what we termed “telework” a couple of years ago is now considered a “normal” way of working. Telework is rapidly developing into a mainstream work practice. The changing employment situation in Europe is driving people and organisations towards new ways of working and of organising work, and technology itself is arguably the major enabling factor. The increase in telework is a consequence of the rapid development of key technologies, such as mobile telephony (mainly GSM, currently with 85 million subscribers globally), the Internet, and the increasing use of intranets within business organisations and extranets. The technologies underpinning call centre development, for instance, have already resulted in new employment for about 400,000 Europeans. 1998 is also a turning point in terms of European support. Telework development not only benefits from support from European Research Funds, but also increasingly on contributions from the Structural Funds2. In 1998, for the first time the volume of financial support to telework deployment in European Structural Funds exceeds that for telework development from the Research Programme: another sign of maturity for telework. In RTD itself, the shift from the Fourth to the Fifth Framework Programme, and particularly to the Information Society Thematic Programme, is well on track for decision and implementation by the end of 1998. It is expected that the Council of Ministers and the European Parliament will agree to approximately 500 MECU of support for the Key Action on New Methods of Working and Electronic Commerce. This will give a significant financial boost to the development of more flexible working practices, as well as to the quality of working life for all working people. It represents a major effort to put Europe at the forefront of the next generation of technology development and support for new working practices and employment opportunities. This publication includes updated information on the latest developments and initiatives, both those undertaken by Research Programmes and those supported by Structural Funds and the Trans European Network Framework. These activities, supported at European level, accompany a wide spectrum of policy debates, centred on the opportunities for new employment. These debates have been stimulated by the European Commission, and animated at the annual European Assemblies on “New Ways to Work”3, as well as during European Telework Week4. The views expressed are those of the numerous contributing authors, not necessarily of the Commission itself. The continuous participation of all parties concerned in the “telework” debate is essential in an area that will affect the future working life of millions of Europeans. Your participation is vital. Peter Johnston Maarten Botterman 1 According to the EITO Task Force Mid-range estimate, EITO 1998 2 see annex 2: European projects 3 4th European Assembly: Good Practice for the Future, Stockholm, 24-26 September 1997, and 5th European Assembly Rediscover life, Lisbon, 23 – 25 September 1998 4 European Telework Week: For a Competitive and Sustainable Europe, 2-9 November 1998. 3 Telework 98 European Telework 4 Telework 98 European Telework Acknowledgements The preparation of this document has involved a large number of people, both within the European Commission, and in other organisations. Special thanks are due to the following members of the ETD team: Jeremy Millard (Tele Danmark Consult) Horace Mitchell (Management Technology Associates) Ursula Huws (Analytica) for their major contributions to the report. Thanks for important contributions are also due to: Christian van Asbroeck (Belgium Teleworking Association), Imogen Bertin (Cork Teleworking Centre), Fritz Betz (Zentrum fur Sozialer Innovation), Andrew Bibby, Marc Bonazountas (Epsilon), Anna Borglin, Kitty de Bruin (Netherlands Telework Platform), Riona Carroll (Telework Ireland), Rui Cartaxo (Associação Portuguesa para o Desenvolvimento do Teletrabalho), Ian Culpin (Martech International), Alan Denbigh (The Telecottage Association), Peter Rahbek Elbrønd (Tele Danmark Consult), Thomas Frovin Jensen, Yassin Gulamhussen (Telecorreio), Josef Hochgerner (Zentrum für sociale Innovation), Lilian Holloway (Swedish Telecottage Association), Chris Hudson (Communication Workers Union), Michel Ickx (Ecomail), Eberhardt Köhler (European Foundation for Living and Working Conditions), Katalin Kolosy (AEIDL), Tuula Lind (Regionet Oy), Joan Majó (Information Society Forum), Patrizio di Nicola (Micromatica), Jack Nilles, Rainer Pollman (TeleArbeit), Victor de Pous, Javier Poves (Ciberteca), Klaus Rapf (Forshungsgesellschaft für Informatik), Miguel Reynolds Brandao (TELEMANutencao), Renato Rizzo (MIRTI), Ian Simmins (Carlyle Information Services), David Skyrme (David Skyrme Associates), Lars Tollet (Taitoverkko), Nicole Turbe-Suetens (Distance Expert), As well as to the following members of staff of the European Commission: Michael Arentoft, Bart Arroyo, Antonio Conte, Christiane Dhyne, David Ellard, Antoinette François, Manuela Geleng, Michael Griffith, Rene Guth, Pentii Lahtinen, John Nolan, Carlos Oliveira, Vibeke Sylvest, Paul Timmers 5 Telework 98 European Telework Table of contents Page 1 Introduction 9 1.1 The take-off of Telework 9 1.2 Working where it’s best 10 1.3 The core characteristics of location-independent work 10 1.4 Telework 98 13 2 2. European telework in context 15 2.1 European teleworking: perspective in the network economy 15 2.2 European teleworking assessment 17 2.2.1 European telework opportunities 18 2.2.2 European teleworking challenges 21 2.3 Priorities in developing Europe’s response 26 3 Status of European telework 27 3.1 European overview 27 3.1.1 How many teleworkers? 27 3.1.2 European telework in an Information Society context 29 3.1.3 Vive les differences! 31 3.1.4 Value from difference 33 3.1.5 Benefits, barriers and issues 33 3.2 Austria 36 3.3 Belgium and Luxembourg 38 3.4 Denmark 40 3.5 Finland 43 3.6 France 46 3.7 Germany 49 3.8 Greece 52 3.9 Ireland 54 3.10 Italy 57 3.11 The Netherlands 60 3.12 Portugal 63 3.13 Spain 65 3.14 Sweden 68 3.15 United Kingdom 71 3.16 Telework outside the European Union 75 3.16.1 Telework in CEE 75 3.16.2 Telework in the USA 77 3.17 Major European telework activities in 1997-98 78 3.17.1 The European Telework Agenda 78 3.17.2 Second International Workshop on Telework , Amsterdam (September 1997) 78 3.17.3 The Fourth European Assembly on Telework and New Ways of Working, 80 Stockholm (September 1997) 3.17.4 European Telework Week 1997 (November 1997) 82 3.17.5 Launch of the European Information Technology Observatory 1998 84 Yearbook – Brussels (March 1998) 3.17.6 The Third European Telework Festival, Serre-Chevalier (April 1998) 85 3.17.7 European Telework Information Day, Brussels (May 1998) 86 6 Telework 98 European Telework 3.17.8 Online Collaboration Berlin (June 1998) 86 3.18 Major European consensus and dissemination activities 88 3.18.1 DIPLOMAT – the European Charter for Telework 88 3.18.2 European Telework Development (ETD) 91 4 Telework and the European Commission 93 4.1 European policy framework 93 4.3.1 The ACTS Programme 95 4.2 The social dimension 94 4.2.1 Work organisation 95 4.2.2 The social dialogue on telework 96 4.3 European RTD 97 4.3.1 The ACTS Programme 97 4.3.2 Related RTD within the ESPRIT Programme 98 4.3.3 The Telematics Applications Programme 99 4.4 Trans European Telecoms Networks 100 4.5 Structural Funds 101 4.5.1 The LEADER Initiative 102 4.5.2 The ADAPT and EMPLOYMENT Iniatives 103 4.5.3 Article 10 of the ERDF 106 4.6 Awareness raising: ISPO 107 5 Telework outlook - 1998 and beyond 109 5.1 Where are we going? 110 5.1.1 Price-performance, affordability and innovation 110 5.1.2 A new focus on low cost systems 111 5.1.3 The influence of pervasive mobility 112 5.1.4 Agent technologies 112 5.1.5 Teleworkers’ particular requirements 112 5.1.6 Putting technology in context 113 5.2 5th Framework Programme: status medio 1998 114 5.3 Awareness activities 115 5.3.1 The Information Society Forum and the employment debate 115 5.3.2 The social dialogue on telework 116 5.3.3 The European Telework Agenda 117 5.3.4 The W.I.S.E Forum 117 5.3.5 The Third International Workshop on Telework, Turku, Finland (September 117 1998) 5.3.6 The Fifth European Assembly on Telework and New Ways of Working, 117 Lisbon (September 1998) 5.3.7 European Telework Week 1998 (November 1998) 118 5.3.8 Other initiatives 119 Annex 1 European Telework Week 1997: summary of events and initiatives 120 Annex 2 Telework-related projects at European level 125 1 Commission contacts 125 2 Projects in alphabetical order 126 Annex 3 Online information on telework and related topics 151 1 European Telework Online (ETO) 151 2 European Telework sites 154 7 Telework 98 European Telework 3 International sites 156 Annex 4 Definitions and glossary 157 1 Definitions 157 2 Glossary of terms 158 Annex 5 Publications and references 166 1 Publications of the European Commission 166 2 Other publications 167 3 Telework magazines 170 4 Telework Associations in Europe 171 8 Telework 98 European Telework 1. Introduction 1.1 The take off of telework Telework, as work based on or facilitated by the networked technologies of the Information Society, is transforming the European working environment.